CEO BrainFood

01:44 – Michael introduces today’s guest, Susan Drumm who speaks to the origin story of her organization Meritage Leadership Development09:20 – Michael and Susan reflect on the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic 12:47 – Building resilience in the face of adversity, stress and anxiety 25:33 – The importance of effective delegation and the OURS system29:30 – Susan speaks to the many assessment tools that she utilizes in her work with leaders 33:37 – Michael and Susan speak to their unique experiences as growth and leadership coaches 38:34 – Where listeners can follow Susan 40:00 – Michael thanks Susan for joining the show and where listeners can find his Functional Team Scorecard TWEETABLE QUOTES“I would say it’s more critical than ever that leaders spend time engaging with their team in this [remote] format because people feel isolated.” (10:11)“What I was curious about is what makes some leaders able to handle stressful situations more gracefully while others just get their buttons pushed and become reactive or lash out. And, is it innate? Can it be learned and, if so, how?” (15:58)“I recently heard a statistic that the average life expectancy for a police officer after they retire is ten years. Think about that. Because of the wear and tear from such high stress situations that they’ve had to deal with, the toll that’s taken on their bodies without the ability to build the resilience, can really make a difference.” (23:15)“The way you think drives your actions.” (26:50)RESOURCE LINKSMichael’s LinkedInMichael’s WebsiteThe Functional Team ScorecardSusan’s LinkedInMeritage Website

00:55 – Michael introduces today’s guest, Albert Erisman03:23 – Al talks about why he started Ethix Magazine & The Theology of Work Project 06:25 – Why purpose, meaning and focus outweigh the importance of profits 09:21 – Al talks about his book, The ServiceMaster Story, and the Four Objectives20:09 – The concept of ‘Shingles on the Roof’ 22:42 – The importance of leaders understanding the value of service workers 27:37 – Al explains that leaders aren’t perfect 29:11 – The importance of training 32:34 – Diversity of culture and religion 35:44 – Al speaks to how his company dealt with exponential growth through acquisitions while honoring the four objectives 38:08 – Michael thanks Al for joining the show and for the great work that he’s doing40:15 – Where listeners can follow Al41:04 – Where to find Michael’s Functional Team Scorecard TWEETABLE QUOTES“I think the whole idea of purpose, meaning and focus is the central idea and then profit is the means by which you do that.” (08:31)“What happens to a company that has a focus on its employees, its purpose, and its meaning? And what happens when that shifts and becomes about profit?” (11:12)“He wrote that, ‘ServiceMaster had cracked the code by the way the service industry is perceived because they alone were able to instill purpose, meaning and value into the work of a service worker. It changed the way they saw their work and, therefore, it changed the results for the customer.’” (25:07)“If you build a system that will only works for perfect leaders, it will fail because there are no perfect leaders.” (28:15)RESOURCE LINKSMichael’s LinkedInMichael’s WebsiteThe Functional Team ScorecardAl’s LinkedInTheology of Work WebsiteEthix WebsiteBOOKS MENTIONEDAl’s Book – The ServiceMaster Story

01:01 – Michael introduces today’s guest, Jack Stack04:21 – Jack’s origin story and the goal of The Great Game of Business14:25 – The importance of forward-thinking forecasting20:29 – The secret sauce of The Great Game of Business27:50 – The importance of the critical number34:14 – Jack speaks to a story in his latest book, Change The Game38:03 – The importance of creating jobs39:59 – Michael and Jack discuss the value of culture45:13 – Jack provides some final observations and takeaways on business49:34 – Jack talks about the state of the economy53:57 – Michael thanks Jack for joining the show and for the great work that he’s doing54:23 – Where listeners can follow Jack56:08 – Where to find Michael’s Functional Team ScorecardTWEETABLE QUOTES“I began to realize there’s two ways of leading a company. One is by a product and service and then one is these people look at the company from a totally different set of metrics. I’m trying to make a precision flywheel and they’re trying to make a precision balance sheet.” (07:26)“If you’re not creating new businesses in your companies right now, your survival’s gonna be very very small in the future.” (21:38)“If you can forecast, you can actually control the world.” (24:40)“You need sales. There’s no question you need sales, ok? But sales without margins is just more work.” (33:04)“Selling EBITDA is like selling a house with only one bathroom.” (39:34)“When you appeal to the highest level of thinking, you get the highest level of performance.” (45:47)RESOURCE LINKSMichael’s LinkedInMichael’s WebsiteThe Functional Team ScorecardJack’s LinkedInJack’s WebsiteBOOKS MENTIONEDJack’s Books – The Great Game of Business & Change The GameGet In The Game

00:54 – Michael introduces today’s guest, Mark Green03:55 –Coaching for Results vs. Coaching for Growth07:04 – Michael promotes Mark’s book, Activators10:29 – Mark speaks to hidden growth killers17:56 – Universal quantifiers20:35 – Mark talks about three different types of fear26:08 – Mark lays out the five symptoms of fear32:45 – Mark tells the story about his Grandpa Ben and the importance of changing your neighborhood37:55 – The value Mark places on purposefulness and the link between purpose and strategy46:13 – Mark speaks to his personal purpose and the process it took to figure it out50:50 – Michael encourages the audience to pick up a copy of his book, Activators51:59 – Mark talks about some projects he’s currently working on, including a new book53:06 – Where listeners can follow Mark54:00 – Michael thanks Mark for joining the show54:24 – Where to find Michael’s Functional Team ScorecardTWEETABLE QUOTES“When the hidden growth killers are operating and you’re not aware of them, you’re actually not really at choice, right? You’re surrendering choice to operate on your habits, your beliefs, your motivators.” (16:18)“If you have fear that’s affecting you, there’s no way that you can feel like a great CEO when you know that you’re not addressing the behaviors that actually weaken your business.” (24:02) “We use logic to justify our thinking. So, we’re typically blind to our fears.” (29:16)“Often what I’ve observed is we maintain status quo networks, comfort zone networks… And, the truth of the matter is, in many cases, you’ve become among the most expensive houses in all of your neighborhoods. And then you wonder why you’re not growing as fast as you want to grow.” (34:47)“Purposefulness is a chronically under-utilized resource, often at great expense.” (39:30)“My purpose is to unlock human potential.” (46:16)RESOURCE LINKSMichael’s LinkedInMichael’s WebsiteThe Functional Team ScorecardMark’s LinkedInMark’s WebsiteLink to Harvard Business Review Article on PurposeBOOKS MENTIONEDMark’s Book WebsiteStart with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

00:58 – Michael introduces today’s guests, Rich Armstrong and Steve Baker01:41 – Michael promotes Rich and Steve’s latest book, Get In The Game03:41 – The origin story of The Great Game of Business08:48 – How Jack Stack began the process of teaching the language of business to his team12:08 – Steve addresses the concept of open-book management15:31 – Jack’s philosophy of lifetime hiring18:16 – Building a dominant workforce20:49 – How to engage employees to become better business thinkers24:24 – How scorecarding works27:39 – Benefits of a company getting into The Great Game31:58 – Key principles and elements of The Great Game of Business38:52 – The concept of a self-funded bonus44:02 – The importance of a healthy culture51:03 – Why Michael loves to highlight The Great Game of Business52:06 – Michael thanks Rich and Steve for joining the show and praises the work they’ve done52:17 – Michael encourages the audience to visit The Great Game of Business website53:08 – Michael promotes the upcoming Great Game of Business Conference54:01 – Where to find Michael’s Functional Team ScorecardTWEETABLE QUOTES“It [The Great Game of Business] was all about productivity. It was about quality. It was about building a solid product, but not necessarily building a company.” (06:38) (Rich)“The dominant companies in the next ten years will be those who are dominant with their workforce.” (18:25) (Steve)“People want to be in the know, and they want to know what they can do to contribute.” (22:55) (Rich)“If you would have invested a thousand dollars, if you were brave enough to invest a thousand dollars back in 1983, that thousand dollar investment is worth close to eight million dollars in value today.” (29:06) (Rich)“Business is like a game. To play any game, you gotta know what the goal is. That’s the critical number. And then you have to know what game you’re in so you gotta know and teach the rules. You’ve got to follow the action and keep score.” (34:46) (Rich)“Let the slackers and the dead weight go work for your competitors.” (46:30) (Steve)“The company is the product. And, if that’s the case, if the company is indeed the product, building a great company, you will have the best quality, the best service, the best of everything. And that’s a great place to work if you ask me.” (50:03) (Steve)RESOURCE LINKSMichael’s LinkedInMichael’s WebsiteThe Functional Team ScorecardRich’s LinkedInSteve’s LinkedInThe Great Game of Business WebsiteBOOKS MENTIONEDThe Great Game of Business, Expanded and Updated: The Only Sensible Way to Run a CompanyGet In The GameChange The Game